On August 11th, Argentina held primary elections ahead of the general election scheduled for October 27th. Center-left candidate Alberto Fernandez and running mate former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner defeated center-right President Mauricio Macri. This result created uncertainty about the future of Argentina’s economic policy. Many investors pulled their money out of Argentina, and ratings agencies such as Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgraded their credit rating. The peso experienced rapid and significant devaluation against the dollar, losing roughly 20% of its value in a matter of days. In an effort to stabilize the peso, Macri re-instituted currency controls that had been eliminated in 2015.

During the August survey of Harare, our visit found the Zimbabwean economy in a state of transition. This June, after a decade of using a mix of approaches but primarily relying on the U.S. dollar for transactions, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced that a new Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL), also known as the Zimdollar, was the only acceptable form of payment.

When an expatriate’s home country currency weakens, what do you do? In my recent post, I talked about the importance of initiating an increase in their goods and services allowance because the employee’s salary portion, meant to be spent on their market basket, will no longer go as far once converted into their host currency.

Control program costs while meeting assignee needs via well-designed policies that address economic changes over time. Access the recording to learn how to:

Understanding how and when to use different compensation approaches is key to achieving global mobility goals. Join us to learn more about:

The Meeting The Challenges of Change: Global Mobility Assignments webinar grants attendees one general HR Certification Institute credit. Global mobility is rapidly changing and increasingly becoming a point of emphasis for employers. In fact, almost half of employers expect the demand for global assignments at their organization to increase during the next year, according to Envoy Global’s 2019 Immigration Trends report. Learn more and register today!

Want a refresher on the latest trends in Global Mobility? Please join the 2019 AIRINC institute webinar series! Choose your sessions of interest or attend them all. These are complimentary educational sessions for the first 500 registrants. Act now and register today while spaces are still available: 

Rents in Turkey decreased due to lower demand, the depreciation of the lira, and the economic conditions that resulted from recent government policies and security concerns. A recent change in lease laws required that all contracts be signed and paid in Turkish lira (TRY) instead of USD or EUR.

For many years, the expatriate rental market in Turkey has been dominated by leases signed and paid in USD or EUR. In September of this year, President Erdogan issued a decree stating that all leases in foreign currency must be converted to Turkish lira (TRY). This move was made to stem the sharp inflation that battered Turkey’s currency in 2018, resulting in a loss of over half its value at its worst point.

COLA is affected by complex economic factors like exchange rate fluctuation and economic volatility, which are highly unpredictable. For a COLA to be effective, the allowance must be reviewed and updated periodically to take these factors into account.